Railway signaling apparatus



Nov. 1, 1932. D. w. RICHARDS 1,885,948

RAILWAY S IGNALING APPARATUS Original Filed April 9, 193.1

51 54 X [Z 66 L- INVENTOR. D. W. El a/wards,

#44 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 1, 1932 DANIEL W. RICHARDS, OF GLENVAR, VIRGINIA RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS Original application filed April 9, 1931, Serial No. 528,865. Divided and this application filed March5,

- 1932. Serial No.'597,037.

My invention relates to railway signaling apparatus.

I will describe one form of apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

The present application is a division ofmy copending application, Serial No. 528,865, filed April 9, 1931, for railway signaling apparatus.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic view showing one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference characters 46 and 46 designate the track rails of a. stretch J of railway track over which traliic moves at times in both directions. These track rails are divided by means of insulated joints 4 to form two track sections KL and LM. Section KL is connected with a siding N by means of a switch P which is moved to normal and reverse positions by suitable operating mechanism forming no part of my invention, and therefore not shown in the drawing. Operatively connected with the switch P is a circuit controller V, comprising a contact 6Z 63 which is closed when and only when the switch P occupies its normal position in which it is illustrated in the drawing.

The track sections KL and L'M are each provided with the usual track circuit comprising, in the form here shown, the primary 17 of transformer T connected across the rails at one end of the section and a track relay Q, connected across the rails at the other end of the section, the track relays for the two sections being designated Q and Q respectively.

Intersecting the stretch J at or near the junction of the sections KL and L-M is a highway Z, and located at this intersection is a highway crossing signal W which, in the form here shown, is an electric bell.

The bell 1V is controlled by an interlocking relay U which may be of any suitable type,

such for example, as the relay illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 799,452, granted to W. W. Coleman on Sept. 12, 1905. As here shown, therelay U comprises two magnets 64 and 65 which control two back contacts 66 and 67, respectively. If magnet 64 becomes deenergized before magnet 65, back contact 66 will become closed, but if magnet 6% becomes deenergized subsequent to magnet 65, the interlocking mechanism will prevent back contact 66 from becoming closed. Similarly, if magnet 65 becomes deenergized before magnet 64, back contact 67 will become closed, but if magnet 65 becomes deenergized subsequent-to magnet 6 1, the interlocking mechanism will prevent back contact 67 from becoming closed.

W hen contact 66 of relay U is closed, a circuit is completed for bell W which passes from terminal X through contact 66 of relay U and the operating mechanism of bell 1V to terminal Y. Similarly, when contact 67 of relay U is closed, another circuit is completed for bell V which passes from terminal X through contact 67 of relay U and the operat- I ing mechanism of bell 1V to terminal Y. When either of these circuits is closed bell W will operate, thereby warning users of the highway that a train is approaching along the railway. I

Interlocking relay U, in turn, is controlled by the track relays Q} and Q and by a relay R Relay lt is provided with a back contact 3131 of the usual construction which is open or closed according as the relay is energized or deenergized. Relay R is also provided with an auxiliary contact 3l35 which becomes closed after contact 31---31 becomes opened when the relay becomes energized, and which remains closed when the relay subsequently becomes deenergized until after contact Ell--31 has become closed. One form of relay having contacts which will operate in the manner described is disclosed in detail in my copending application, Serial No. 528,865, of which the present application is a division. For convenience, the corresponding contacts in the two applications have been designated by similar reference characters.

Magnet 65 of relay U is provided with a circuit which passes from terminal K through front contact 68 of relay Q} and the winding of magnet 65 to terminal Y. Magnet 64 of relay-U is similarly provided with a circuit which passes from terminal X ice through wire 69, front contact of relay Q wire 71, the windin of magnet 64, and wire 72 to terminal Y. a net 64 is also provided with another circuit w ich passes from terminal X through back contact I'll--81 of relay R, auxiliary contact 3435 of relay R wires 73 and 71, the winding of magnet 64, and wire 72 to terminal Y.

Relay R is controlled by contact 6363 of circuit controller V, the circuit for this relay passing from terminal X through contact 6363 of circuit controller V, wire 74, and the winding of relay R to terminal Y. It will be apparent therefore that this relay will be energized when switch P occupies its normal position but that this relay will be- ,come deenergized when the switch is moved to its reverse position.

As shown in the drawing, sections KL and and L-M are both unoccupied so that track relays Q and Q are both energized. The circuit for magnet 65 of relay U is therefore closed at front contact 68 of relay Q and the one circuit for magnet 64 is likewise closed at front contact 70 of relay Q so that both magnets 64 and 65 of interlocking relay U are energized. Both circuits for bell W are therefore open, and bell W is accordingly deener 'zed. Switch ,1 occupies its normal osition, and the circuit for relay R is there- ?ore closed, so that relay R is energized.

I will now assume that a train moving from right to left enters section LM. This causes track relay Q to become decnergized which in turn deenergizes magnet 65 of interlocking relay U. Back contact 67 of relay U therefore becomes closed and completes the circuit for bell W including this contact, so that bell W starts to operate. When the train enters section KL, relay Q} becomes deenergized and deenergizes magnet 64 of relay U. Contact 66, however remains 0 en under these conditions due to the interlocking mechanism of the relay. When the train has passed completely out of section LM, relay Q again becomes energized, thereby energizing magnet 65 and hence opening back contact 67. This interrupts the circuit which was previously closed for bell W at this contact, and bell W therefore stops operating. When the train has passed completely out of section KL, relay Q again becomes energized. This energizes magnet 64, and the parts are then restored to the positions shown.

When a train moving from left to right traverses the stretch of track J the operation of the apparatus will be exactly the reverse of that just described, and will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawing, without tracing the sequence of operation in detail.

I will next assume that it is desired to permit a train in siding N to traverse stretch J from left to right after another train which is moving from right to left has passed switch P but is still in section KL. Under these conditions, relay Q and magnet 65 will of course be ener ized but relay Q and magnet 64 will be eenergized. F urthermore, since magnet 64 became deenerglzed after magnet 65, contact 66 will be held open by the interlocking mechanism of re lay U, so that signal W will be silent. Relay R will be energized. In order to permit the train to enter stretch J, switch P must be reversed. When this is done, contact 63-63a of circuit controller V is opened and relay R therefore becomes deenergized. When relay R becomes deenergized, there is a brief interval of time after back contact 31-3111 becomes closed before auxiliary contact 3435 becomes opened, and during this interval of time the circuit for magnet 64 of relay U including these contacts is closed. Magnet 64 therefore becomes energized for a sutficient interval of time to release the interlocking mechanism of relay U with the result that when magnet 64 subsequently again becomes deenergized due to the opening of contact 34-35, back contact 66 of relay U becomes closed. This completes the circuit for bell W including this contact and bell W starts to operate, thereby warning the users of the highway that a train is approaching on the railway. When the train enters section L-M, relay Q becomes deenergized and deenergizes magnet 65 of interlocking relay U. Contact 67 remains open, however, under these conditions.

When both trains have passed completely out of section KL, track relay Q picks up and closes the circuit for magnet 64 including front contact 70 of relay Q Magnet 64 therefore becomes energized, thus opening contact 66 and hence stopping the operation of hell WV. When the train which entered stretch J from the siding N has assed completely out of section L-M, relay 5 picks up and energizes magnet 65. The parts are then restored to the positions which they normally occupy when switch P is in its reverse position and sections KL and L-M are both unoccupied.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of railway signaling 1 apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, two adjoining sections of railway track, a highway intersecting of a switch having two extreme positions, a l

third relay controlled in accordance with the position of said switch and provided with two contacts one of which becomes closed before the other opens during movement of said switch from one of said extreme positions to the other extreme position, an interlocking relay provided with two magnets one controlled by the track relay for the second section and the other controlled by the track relay for the first section and by said two contacts, and a highway crossing signal controlled by said interlocking relay.

2. In combination, two adjoining sections of railway track, a highway intersecting said track at substantially the junction of said sections, a track circuit for each of said sections including a track relay, a siding connected with the first section by means of a switch'having two extreme positions, a winding arranged to be energized or deenergized according as said switch occupies one extreme position or the other, an interlocking relay provided with two magnets, a circuit for one of said magnets arranged to be closed when the track relay for the second track section is energized, a. first circuit for the other magnet arranged to be closed when the track relay for said first track section is energized, a third circuit for said other magnet, means controlled by said winding and efi'ective when said winding becomes deenergized for momentarily closing said third circuit, and a highway crossing signal controlled by said interlocking relay.

3. In combination, two adjoining sections of railway track, a highway intersecting said track at substantially the junction of said sections, a track circuit for each of said sections including a track relay, a siding connected with the first sections by means of a switch having two extreme positions, a contact controlled by said switch and arranged to be closed when and only when said switch occupies one of said extreme positions, a. third relay arranged to be energized when the contact controlled by said switch is closed and provided with two contacts one of which becomes closed before the other is opened when the relay becomes deenergized, an interlocking relay having two magnets, a circuitfor one of said ma nets controlled by a front contact of the trac relay for the second section, a first circuit for the other magnet controlled by a front contact of the track relay for the first section, a second circuit for said other magnet controlled by said two contacts of said third relay, and a highway crossing signal controlled by said interlocking relay.

4. In combination, two adjoining sections of railway track, a highway intersecting said track at substantially the junction of said sections, a track circuit for each of said sections including a track relay, a siding connected with the first section by means of a switch having two extreme positions, a third relay arranged to be energized or deenergize'd according as said switch occupies one extreme position or the other, said third relay being provided with a first contact which is open when the relay is energized but which becomes closed when the relay becomes deenergized and with a second contact which is closed when the relay is energized but which becomes opened after said first contact has become closed when the relay becomes deenergized, an interlocking relay comprising two magnets and two back contacts one controlled by each magnet, a circuit for one magnet controlled by a front contact of the track relay for the second track section, a first circuit for the other magnet controlled by a front contact of the track relay for said first track section, a second circuit for said other magnet controlled by said first and said second contact of said third relay, a highway crossing signal, and two circuits for said signal one controlled by each back contact of said interlocking relay.

5. In combination, two adjoining sections of railway track, a track circuit for each of said sections including a track relay, a siding connected with the first section by means of a switch having two extreme positions, a third relay controlled in accordance with the position of the switch and having a contact which becomes closed during movement of said switch from one of its extreme positions to the other, an interlocking relay provided with two magnets one controlled by the track relay for the second section and the other controlled by the track relay for the first section and by said contact of said third relay, and signaling means controlled by said interlocking relay.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

DANIEL W. RICHARDS. 

